Rising indie electro-pop outfit Magdalena Bay has released their new single “Killshot”(Luminelle Recordings). The hypnotic track about a torturous love story eases glimmers of eighties transmissions with an intimate vocal performance from singer Mica Tenenbaum.

“’Killshot’ is a song about unfulfilled yearning, about getting so caught up in romantic suspense that you feel your heart may burst,” shares the duo of Mica Tenenbaum (singer/songwriter) and Matthew Lewin (producer/songwriter). “We wanted the song to be as enveloping as an all-consuming romance that builds up to dreamy heights.”

“Killshot” is the latest offering from Magdalena Bay following their recent singles “Good Intentions,” a glitchy dance track about the end of a relationship, and “Venice,” an indie-pop song encouraging listeners to live in the now as the end of the world closes in.

The Los Angeles-based, Miami-raised duo infuse a throwback spirit into 21st century cinematic pop as they gleefully keep their D.I.Y. edges intact. Under the influence of Carly Rae Jepsen, Charli XCX, and Art Angels from Grimes, Magdalena Bay, who’ve been making music together since high school, picked up a thread from their early prog band roots a la the “the eighties key changes” and developed a handcrafted sound and vision. Magdalena Bay has kept up a steady pace over the last few years via a series of original singles and videos, including their hit single “Neon,” which has generated over 2 million Spotify streams.

Thanks for your time! So, what does a typical day look like for Magdalena Bay?

On a
typical day, we get up and drink iced tea with half-and-half (Matt doesn’t
drink coffee). From there, it depends– we’ll either have a songwriting
session, work on our music or videos, or just take a day off and drive to some
new LA neighborhood we haven’t been to yet. If we’re inside all day we try to
take a walk around our neighborhood and grab a coffee for Mica. Lately we’ve
been going to shows at night but we usually end the day with some Zelda
Twilight Princess and an episode of Jeopardy.

Now that we are at the end of the year, how would you say that 2019 has treated you both so far? What are some goals that you have for this year and how close are you to reaching them?

2019
has been good – it’s really the first full year that we’re living in the same
city while doing Magdalena Bay! 2019 started with me (Mica) getting laid off
from my 9-5 office job haha, which ended up giving me more time to make videos
and songs. Highlight of this year has probably been solidifying our vision for
Magdalena Bay and gaining a small but dedicated (and growing!!) fan base who
gets us! We’re proud with how many songs and videos we’ve been able to create
this year (11 so far), and signing with Luminelle Recordings halfway through
the year has been awesome. We also just played our first headlining
show, in Hollywood, which was full of people singing our songs. There’s endless
goals we want to meet but we think we’re on the right track!

Can
you recall the moment when you thought you could be in this band together? How
did you come up with your name?

Yeah!
We used to be in a rock band which sort of broke up when we all went to
different colleges. We got together in Orlando one winter break and after a few
glasses of wine we both started joking about writing pop instead of rock…and
then we wrote our first pop song long-distance a week later!

Has
anything surprised you about this musical journey so far?

It’s
honestly been surprising how hard it is. I guess at some early point in the
journey you might think some faceless industry exec will appear and hand you
the golden ticket to success but it’s really more like a blindfolded crawl up a
steep mountain that also has glass shards on the ground. We now know it takes a
lot of work.

How
do you think your hometown has influenced the sound and how you both carry
yourselves in this group?

Miami
is definitely in our blood! There’s been some sort of tropical, neon-sign
undercurrents in our look and sound since we started. Also, being in possibly
the only prog-rock band in Miami throughout our high school years made us
pretty comfortable with being out of the mainstream. We didn’t fit into the
typical Miami music scene in those years and we’re solidly to the left of
mainstream LA pop now.

Why
would you say that you two work so well together? Where is one of you weak
where the other is strong and vice-versa? Why does this duo work?

Great question!
Matt has a more technical, theory-based background
while Mica has a great natural instinct for pop. Hopefully our music embodies
these two worlds. We’ve been writing together since we were 15 and are
incredibly aligned when it comes to what we like, but our brains work in
completely different ways.

Let’s
talk about your newest single, “Killshot.” What was the inspiration for this
track? How would you say that it compares to anything else that you have
released?

This
song started with a beat that Matt made, then I (Mica) laid the chorus melody
over it. It sounded very 2000’s and a bit spooky so I wanted to tell a
melodramatic story about deadly romance with the lyrics. It’s definitely one of
our darker songs but also a bit more funky and groovy than anything else we’ve
released.

How
have you gone about selecting which songs to release as singles? When do you
hope to release more new music and a full collection of new songs?

Most
of the songs we finish are released as singles, so there’s not much of a
selection process. But when we make an album it’ll probably be really hard to
select them. We’ll have new music very soon and will be
releasing a collection in 2020!

How
do you think your sound has grown over the years? What about your songwriting
process? How has that changed?

Our
sound has definitely changed! We first discovered pop when we started Magdalena
Bay, so as we’ve gained influences along the way we’ve hopefully developed a
sound that we can say is distinctly “us.” Our writing process is different with
each song, but I think there’s a confidence that’s gotten stronger with each
song we write.

Where
do you think you are both happiest- in the studio recording new music, on stage
performing or elsewhere?

I
think we love the writing process more than anything, that’s where we feel the
most excited – even though playing live has been amazing!

What
has been a favorite show of yours to date? What do you think makes an ideal
performance for you? Do you have any upcoming tour dates to wrap up the year
with?

Our most
recent show in LA, right before Halloween, was definitely our fave so far,
everything just clicked. We made a ton of background videos and felt like the
audience totally connected. An ideal performance is totally dependent on the
crowd. When the energy is right, the crowd feeds off us and vice versa. When
the energy is off, we can play everything right but we still feel like dying. We’re looking forward to playing some east coast shows in
2020!!

How
do you think being musicians and in this band gives you the most joy in life
today?

I
think we get a lot of joy out of having a part in every aspect of Magdalena
Bay. We do everything from writing, production and recording to graphics and
video. It’s fulfilling to see the project grow because we know it’s a true
reflection of us and our creativity.

We
are currently living through a very trying and politically charged time right
now, so I am curious to know how your own music is reflecting this time period?
If you don’t think it is, why is that?

Our
music’s not overtly political but there’s some things like themes of feminism
that come through in what we write. I think we worry that writing about
political issues will come across as pandering—I don’t know, is there a way to
successfully speak to serious issues with dance pop? Would be interesting to
try!

Who
would you love to work with in the future? Who are some of your favorite
artists right now? What do you think would be a dream collaboration for this
duo?

We’ve
been into Caroline Polachek, Shura and Paul Cherry recently! We’d love to work
with sick alt-pop artists like Rina Sawayama but also mega mainstream pop
producers a la Max Martin…interested to see what we would make!

Where
would you love to hear your music being played? A TV show, a movie, in your
favorite store, etc…?

A
movie would be awesome, specifically that upcoming Nicolas Cage sci-fi horror
film. Or really any Nic Cage movie…

What
do you hope is the message of your music? What do you hope people continue to
take away from your songs?

We’re
just trying to make good, fun, vibey songs! Hopefully people fall in love with
our DIY synth-pop universe.

About the Author

Leah Brungardt joined All Access Music Group in August 2011 and has been enjoying getting to know a new side of the music industry ever since. Having worked to promote radio stations in the past, seeing what makes a successful radio hit has been a thrill. As a lover of all genres of music, working at All Access Music Group is a perfect fit for Leah, and she loves learning about up and coming musicians as well. Most of her friends have come to rely on her for new music.